Sonicware has announced Deconstruct Minimal, a battery-powered 11-track groovebox priced at $299, positioned for techno and house production. Rhythmic and tonal references are the Roland TR-808 and TR-909.
The track layout runs across three main sections. A 9-track drum machine draws from 16 drum kits and a library of 130 sounds across 10 banks. Two of those drum tracks use dedicated synthesis engines — one for kick, one for snare — rather than samples, giving those voices separate sound-design depth. The bass synthesizer is a newly developed analog-modeling engine with four modeled waveforms (sawtooth, square, triangle, and rectangle) alongside a sine-wave sub-oscillator and a 4-pole low-pass filter with resonance. This is the main melodic voice in the instrument and covers the kind of one-note bass work that minimal techno is built around.
The sequencer is where the TR-808/909 reference becomes meaningful. Beyond standard step programming, it supports parameter locks, per-track accents, sub-steps, randomized velocity, swing, and phrase rotation. Sonicware describes the design philosophy as replicating the “groove DNA” of those machines. The subtle pitch drift and rhythmic timing variations that give them their feel. A 3-band DJ-style isolator EQ and master effects are also on board.
The unit runs on 6 AA batteries or a standard 9V DC adapter, which makes it genuinely portable for live sets without a power supply.
Features
- 11 tracks: 9-track drum machine (including dedicated kick synth and snare synth), analog-modeling bass synthesizer, sampler.
- Bass synth: 4 modeled waveforms, sine sub-oscillator, 4-pole resonant low-pass filter.
- 16 drum kits, 130 sounds across 10 banks.
- Sequencer: parameter locks, per-track accents, sub-steps, randomized velocity, swing, phrase rotation.
- 3-band DJ isolator EQ.
- Master effects.
- Battery powered (6 AA) or 9V DC adapter.
Pricing & Availability
Priced at $299 as and intro offer for the first 1000 units, thereafter, $399. Release date not confirmed but expected to ship sometime in June.
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